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Protesters silent, but message was heard at planning board

Guy Charles Harriton - Reporter/Photographer
Posted 10/21/14

MAMAKATING — Rarely is a planning board meeting attended by 75 or more people, who spoke volumes, not in words, but by the badges the majority wore in a sign of solidarity.

The Town of …

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Protesters silent, but message was heard at planning board

Posted

MAMAKATING — Rarely is a planning board meeting attended by 75 or more people, who spoke volumes, not in words, but by the badges the majority wore in a sign of solidarity.

The Town of Mamakating Planning Board members, at a special meeting Sept. 30, were subjected to attendees wearing badges emblazoned with “???? 7 PEAKS.”

“We were not heard by auditory means,” said Basha Kill Area Association (BKAA) President Paula Medley, “but the badges empowered the people who were expressing their concerns.”

7 Peaks is another of controversial developer Shalom Lamm's projects, a subdivision with plans for 49 homes of 8,500 square feet each. The project has five phases, and one includes lots overlooking the Basha Kill.

What has got the BKAA concerned is that the 625-acre tract sits on the Shawangunk Ridge and is part of both the Bashakill and Shawangunk Kill watersheds.

“Major impacts emanating from this undertaking involve extensive habitat fragmentation and probable flooding to nearby homeowners due to huge land disturbances from lot clearing and building of roads, driveways…” claimed Medley in an email.

Medley lauded the fact that under the tutelage of new Planning Board Chairman Stanley Zamonsky there is “transparency” the likes of which has never been apparent in the past.

The board will have a meeting open to the public prior to the final environmental impact statement, which Medley described as “highly unusual. Rarely is there a public session.

“Usually the board only takes written statements by the lead agency referencing the environmental impact statement,”she added.

She continued, “We still have a lot of questions regarding 7 Peaks.”

Just prior to the planning board meeting, the BKAA had a conference on the 7 Peaks project. Attending that meeting were the Orange County Land Trust and the NY-NJ Trail Conference, representatives from 7 Peaks and the town planning board.

The BKAA advocates a contiguous north-south trail corridor to promote habitat connectivity and enhance recreational opportunities. The group does not want the Lamm project to compromise Basha Kill itself, or the contiguous corridor.

Numerous calls to Lamm were not returned.

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